A Bunch of Snakes
by Avadne
Summary: -Companion to Just Too Tempting, written by anniePADFOOT- A look at Slytherin hosue and the way it operates, it's secret rules and sources.


**A Bunch of Snakes**

POV: Pansy Parkinson

I don't know what it is about Slytherins.

We're a strange group of people.

Yes, we have the Dark House reputation. And not without reason; the worst witches and wizards always came from Slytherin. Yes, we're cunning, yes we're sly, and yes we're cruel and cold.

There are exceptions to every rule, though.

We all know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. But we all do anyway, don't we?

As a whole, I won't argue about us being the Dark House. The Slytherin house has some horrible people and like Gryffindor, as a whole we are the same. We are cunning and sly, just like they are brave and loyal. But there are individuals that are better than others.

Draco Malfoy, for instance, is the model Slytherin: cold, cunning, sly and generally evil. He is the Slytherin King, the heir or something like it. His father is one of the most influential parents of a Slytherin at present, if not the most. And the younger Malfoy loves every second of his status.

But Blaise Zabini, for example, is at the other end. He's a bit of a loner. Not a big people person, he usually stays away form everyone. Yes, you can see the Slytherin qualities in him, but they're well hidden and not gloated out, bragged to the world and on display, like Malfoy's. It's a bit strange that he and Draco are, in fact, very close friends.

We, alone, are different. Different from Ravenclaw, from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. We have our own rules, ones they know naught of. We have our own procedures, opinions, sources.

Especially _sources_.

Until Voldemort is defeated, all of us Slytherins will have to show loyalty not only to the house, but to the source. And the source was always purity of blood, always darkness and always Voldemort… and before Voldemort, it was another dark wizard or witch. Grindewald, for example. There were procedures, admittance rituals and other twisted rites that kept us loyal.

Even if you didn't support it, it was best to pretend. Or at least keep on a blank face, blanker than most. Because all Slytherins have to have mastered the art of showing zero emotion. But those who didn't support, they had to show _less_ than zero to be safe. To not get caught out.

And there's _Them_. The ones that are the leaders of our house. Of course, it's always Malfoy and his crew; the influential ones, the leaders and the ones that set the rules. That's _Them_.

Fifth year arrives, and the trouble starts brewing. You have to go through the Procedural Admittance before you're accepted as one of Slytherin. If you don't pass… you're still a Slytherin by name, but by nothing else. You are shunned, and no matter what you try, you can't get back in.

I don't know what happened to Slytherin House. It has it's own stages; good and bad. Grindewald came, and it was at it's bad stage. Then he went away, and Slytherin was transformed. It was a house to be proud of, just about as evil as say Hufflepuff.

It wasn't the house of Evil, as it's known now. It wasn't the environment for exchanging stories about how you plan to go about your first murder, or when you join up with the latest Dark Lord. It was simply a place for the ambitious, the ones that were more shrewd than the rest. But not evil.

Then things changed again. It was peace for a while, but peace, as we know, never lasts.

Voldemort came to power.

And _everything_ changed back to what it was.

Once again, we became the House of Evil. Once again, the ambition was gone. It was decided easily; whoever aspired to agree to Voldemort's Pureblood mania, or better yet, not just agree to his ways, but support him by becoming a Death Eater, was in.

It was that simple. And occoasionaly, the Hat would find someone particularly ambitious or shrewd, the old reasons of getting into Slytherin, and that one got lucky. But for the rest, they were doomed. Doomed from the start, even when they hadn't begun. And Slytherin was doomed too. They were bound to Voldemort and his ways.

But as we should have known, nothing is forever.

While Voldemort was in power, we were safe. We lived the life, we were untouchable. But it's only a matter of time until he falls.

Just like Grindewald fell, Voldemort will too.

And then, we'll all be fucked, again. For a while, we're going to be alone, with backs turned on us. Because we supported the evil, like a written contract. And then it will change again. The good guys have a habit of being the 'better' person and forgiving. So we'll be forgiven. And once again, Slytherin will become a house to be proud of, one that isn't meant for evil.

And then another crazy maniac will arrive, and become the next Dark Lord. So again, Slytherin will be the Dark House, the evil one. And again, we'll be on top.

Until another Harry Potter comes along, defeats 'the evil'. Then we'll all be fucked again. And then forgiven, and no longer the Evil House. And finally... we'll be back to square one, with yet _another_ Dark Lord.

It's a vicious cycle.

End.

--

This brilliant masterpiece doesn't belong to me. It was written by anniePADFOOT as a companion piece to _Just Too Tempting_. It can also be found under her name in her one-shot collection, _Only A Feeling?_

This was written to help explain Draco's situation. I hope it's given you all some insight as to what's happening wiht my favourite blonde villian, Draco!

XO **aPADFOOT** & **Avadne**


End file.
